Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
